Automatic safety-gate for railroads.



` v. T. PRESSEY. A AUTOMATIC SAFETY GATE' FOR RMLROADS.`

APPUCATIQN FlLED MAYGl-IQIG PatentedAug. i4, 1917,

'zsh-EETSAHEET 1.

V. T: Pre 55e?,

l ,A i awww-rox VERNE T. PRESSEY, OF WAVERLEY, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY-GATE FOR RAILROADS.

Specification of yLetters Patent. Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

Application filed May 1e, 191e. seriai No. 97,857.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VERNE T. PREssEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Waverley, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic Safety-Gates for Railroads; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, f

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same. Y

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in automaticsafety gates for railroads and is particularly adapted for use inconnection with subway and elevated railroads where the platform israised aboveI the track flevel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gate which will preventpersons standing on the platform from falling or being pushed olf of theedge of the platform and onto the track;

Still another object of the invention is to provide a gate which isautomatically opened on the approach of the train and closed upon thewithdrawal of the train.

Still another object Vof the invention is to provide a device whichcannot be opened until the train is in proper position before theplatform for the boarding of the passengers and which will close beforethe train is in motion.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forthin the following specification and vaccompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is an edge View of the gate showing the same as it would appearin use in connection with the platform and track.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the operatinggears for the ate. g Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the solenoidsand contacts by which the movement of the gate is controlled, and

Fig. 4 illustrates the wiring diagram of the device.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawingsthe numeral 1 designates the gate consisting ofthe vertical side bars 2 provided with the upper and lower bars 3 whichare connected inter- Y mediate their ends bythe fillers 4. The

Outer faces of the bars 2 are provided with rack teeth 5 which meshwiththe gears 6 mounted on the shaftv7 which is journaled in the bracket 8.It will thus be seen that upon rotation of the gears the gate will beraised or lowered. The platform is desig- :cated by the numeral 9 whilethe track is designated bythe numeral, 10 and consists of the usual ties11 supporting the rails 12. The ordinarythird rail used in subways andelevated railway systems is designated by the numeral 13 and supportedon thestandards 14 beside the track and is arranged on the side oppositethe platform 9. Supported on the side of the track nearest the platformis a suitable longitudinally extending beam or bar 15 carrying thecontacts 16 and 17 the use of which appear as the description proceeds.A suitable resistance unit 18 is secured beneath one of the ties and oneterminal thereof is connected .by the wire 19 to the third rail 13hereinbefore referred to.

Supported beneath the platform 9 is a suitable supporting platform'20.on which the motor 21 is mounted and this motor is provided with thepinion 22 which meshes with one of the gears 6 so that upon rota-v tionof the armature of the motor the gears 6 will be driven. It will thus beseen that the gate 1 is controlled through the operation of the motorand thus the same may be moved to raised position. A suitable start ingrheostat 23 is mounted on the supporting platform 20 beside the motorand is of the automatic type and so arranged as to avoid overloading themotor before the same has attained the proper speed.

Supported on the under side of the platform 9 is the latch solenoiddesignated by the numeral 24 and this solenoid 24 is adapted to attractthe head 25 of the latch bar 26 which is slidably Vmounted in thebracket V27. A disk 28 is secured to the latch bar intermediate its endand a compression coil spring 29 is interposed between one of thebrackets 27 and the disk to normally tend to move the latch bar26`outwardly to cause its forward end to engage the teeth on one of thebars 2 of the gate 1. It will be unlderstood'that if soldesired a,secondl electro-l magnet 24 may be positioned in such a way as toengage the teeth of the opposite bar 2 and thus prevent any possibilityof the gate sagging at one end. A suitable bracketBO is Vsecured to theunder side of the platform 9 intermediate the bracket 27 and the lower Yend of the last named bracket is bent angularly as at 31 to form apivotal support for the contact lever 32, the upper end of which isbifurcated to receive the Apivot pin 33 which extends through the latchbar 26 and is. iso Iarranged* that upon movement of the latch bar thelever 32 will be swung. A suitable plate of insulation designated by thenumeral 33 is supported-at the lower 'end ofthe contact lever 32 and'carries :the Contact plates 34 to which the 'conductor wirev'to be morefully hereinafter described 'is attached. A suitable spring arm 35 'issupported onthe'sub-platform 36 positioned beneath the platform 9 andcarried on its vupper end is "the insulating plate 37 which supports thecontact plate 38 having connected thereto a 'suitable conductor vwirewhich will be more fully hereinafter 'described.

Mounted in the rear ofthe latchsolenoid "2 4 is the control Solenoid39`which'is adapted to attract the vhead 40 of the sliding rod 41 whichis slidably mounted in the bracket 42 and carries the pin 43 which willbe more 'fully hereinafter described. A suitable stop pin 44 is'secur'edintermediateithe ends ofthe `blarf41 4and forms an vabutment for 'oneend of the Acompression coil spring 45 the opposite k end of which bears4against one of the brackets 42. 1t will thus be seen that the v spring4'will ytend to hold the head 40 away ,fromthe electroinag'net 39 asillustrated in vFig. 3. A ydepending bracket 46 4is secured to the undersideof "the platform 9 and the vlower end thereof is .bent as "at 47 tolform apivotal l support y*for lthe lever 48, the upper end of 4which isbifurcated to fit around the pin It will Athus'be seen that when 'therod 41 is vmoved the lever will be swung on its pivot in the mannerofthe lever 32 hereinbefore referred to. Olne side ofthe lower Aend oflthe lever 48 carries a plate 49fforined of a suitable insulatingmaterial lwhich in lturn supports the contact pl'ate'50 whilel theopposite side'of said arm carries the insulating .plate 51 which in turnsupports Ithe contact plate 52. A suitable contact plate 53is mounted onthe insulating plate 54 carried on the upper bend of the spring 55and/the vplate 53 'is adapted tovbeA engaged by the Iplate 50 when thearm 48 `is in 'the .position shown in the drawings. The spring 55 isymounted on the sub-platform 36 as is .preaches the station a suitablecontact shoe not shown, which is carried Aby the train bridges thecontacts 16 and 17 thereby permitting the current to flow from the rail13 into the wire 19 and thence through the resistance 18 yand the wire59 into the contact 1-7 thence through the shoe contact 16 and into vthewire 60 where itis carried upwardly to the magnet 39. The current thenpasses 'frointhe :magnet Ithrough the wire '61 back to the track rail 12forming the return circuit. The energi/iationfo'f Athe magnet 39 willcause the head 4,0 tozbe attracted thereeby causing the flower 'end ofthe arm 48 `to swing into such ,position las to bring 'the plates 52 and'58 in'to Contact- This Inove` 25 to be attracted "thereby swinging thelever 32 into such a position as to "cause the plate 34 to engage theplate 38 andsimultaiieo'usl'y withdraw the 1latch `ba"r 26 fromengagement with the'teeth 5 vofthe rack bars 'supporting the gate. 1twill thus be seen 'that the 'gate vwill be allowed to 'drop into openposition ,and personsp'ermitted to vboard 'the train. Vhen it is'desired to start 'the 'shoe is 'raised to disengage the contacts 16 and17 fand it will Ibe seen that this Y'movement will denergize 'theelectrina'gnets 39 and 24 and perniit the 'bar 41 of the magnet 39 "toinove outwardly under 'the' influence ofthesp'ring 45 thereby swingingthe Varno 48 into sucha 'position as to cause the contact 'plates 50 and53 to engage thereby allowing the current to 1flow from the j'r-'esist-'ance is through/the wire 62 and wir@ 63 'into the wire'Gfrom when'ceitpasses into the wire 67 carriedby the'arm 32 'and 'into the Contactplate 34. This contact plate remains Aiii 'engagement with the Contactplate 38 'through the fact that the 'latch ybar 26 ybears against one of4the vertical bars 2 and thus currentcontinues through thejplate 38intothe wire'67 and 'thence through the automatic starting rheostat '68into the inotor 69 thereby setting theinotor in operation.

The current'thenpas'ses through 'the wire 70' into the wireyl r`and*back` to the rail l12. The motor vwill cause the gateto risevto'theposition shown in -Fig. 1 until'the slot :in one of the bars 2 has been,reached at which time the 'latch bar 2t will 'enter said 'slot therebypermitting the lever 32 to swing into such Vposition as 'to'eausethepIates e4 and 38 4to disengage and 'break the inotor circuit. l

l/Vhile in themforegoing there rhas been shown and described thepreferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that suchchanges may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as willfall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

at is claimed is zl. A gate operating mechanism including a liftingmotor, an electromagnetBcontrolling the motor circuit, a latch actuatedby said electromagnet and a second electromagnet for controlling theenergization o f the first mentioned electromagnet, the latch beingadapted to engage the gate when in its raised position to hold the samein raised position.

2. A safety gate for electric railroads including a gate, a motor formoving the gate into closed position, said gate being automaticallyreturned to open position, a latch for holding the gate in closedposition, an electromagnet for operating the latch to move the same outof engagement with the gate, a control magnet controlling the passage ofcurrent through the latch magnet and the passage of current through themotor circuit.

3. In a safety appliance for railways, a vertically slidable gate, amotor for moving the gate into closed position, said gate being adaptedto move by gravity to open position, a latch for holding the gate inclosed position, an electromagnet for releasing the latch, a contact armactuated bythe releas- Y ing of the latch for cutting in the motorcircuit, a control magnet for controlling the energization of the latchmagnet and the completing of the motor circuit and means for enablingthe power used for energizing the magnets and operating the motor to betaken from the feed wires of the railroad.

4. In a device of the class described, a vertically slidable gate, amotor for moving the gate upwardly and into close position, said gatemoving by gravity to open position, a latch for engagement with the gateto hold the same in raised position, an electromagnet for releasing saidlatch, an arm actuated upon the releasing of the latch, a motorcontrolled contact carried by the arm, a stationary resilient arm, amotor controlled contact carried by the last named arm and adapted to beengaged by the contact of the rst named arm, a control magnet, an armactuated by the control magnet, a contact carried by the arm,'arelatively stationary contact adapted to be engaged by the contact onthe arm, one of the contacts being adapted to complete the circuitthrough the latch magnet when the control magnet is energized the othercontact being adapted to complete the circuit through the motor When thecontrol magnet is denergized and means to control the energization anddenergization of the control magnet. Y

5. In combination with an electric railway, a safety appliance includinga vertically movable gate, said gate being adapted to move into openlposition by gravity, an electric motor` controlling the upward andclosing movement of the gate, said gate lbeing provided with a latchopening, a latch for engaging the Aopening when the gate has movedthrough its uppermost position for supporting said gate in its downwardmovement, an electromagnet for releasing the latch, a motor controlledcontact actuated by the movement of the latch and adapted to be brokenwhen the latch moves into the opening in the gate, a control magnet forcontrolling the energization of the latch magnet, contacts actuated bythe control magnet and arranged so that when said control magnet isenergized the circuit will be completed through one of the contacts andthe latch magnet, said vcontacts also being arranged so that when thecontrol magnet is denergized and the latch out of the opening thecircuit will be completed through the motor to cause the gate to move toclosed position and means controlling the energization and denergizationof the control magnet.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VERNE fr. PREss'EY.

Witnesses i JOHN V. MCCARTHY, MABEL E. PREssEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patent-s, Washington, D. C.

